We want to make clear that there is a place for everyone in our sport.
We stand by the decision to choose inclusion over exclusion. And, to invite the Queensland Suns to return to the State Titles given they have limited opportunities to play in a high performance environment due to low participation numbers and limited pathways.
We recognise that change is sometimes uncomfortable, and we are buoyed by the support of our wider netball community who are embracing men and boys in competition formats and have done so for some time in a mixed netball capacity.
We’d like to address the assertion that the young women who played the State Titles were disadvantaged in any way. Our intent, from the outset, was to ensure all athletes were encouraged to perform to their best ability in a high-performance environment.
The adult men’s teams regularly train against our Sapphire and Firebirds teams so, this is not new to our high-performance pathway. In fact, our senior teams played and drew 66 all in their most recent competition demonstrating the depth of talent and benefits of our women’s teams playing against the men’s teams.
The Under 18s State Titles is traditionally the first exposure many athletes have to playing against men and we see this as a great development opportunity.
The inclusion of both women and men in the competition in 2021 was about affording all netballers the opportunity to play and develop our great game.
While we have been subject to commentary around the different physical attributes it should also be remembered that men are new participants to our sport and play a different style of netball.
It’s also imperative that we provide a platform for men and boys to participate – because if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. And we aspire to be a sport for all.
Given the evolving conversations and overwhelming support for the inclusion of boy’s and men’s teams, we are now preparing for a stand-alone competition in this age group at the State Titles in 2022.
We would also like to express how extremely disappointed we are by the behaviour of a few people in the crowd.
We want to explicitly say that this was not the behaviour of our players, rather spectators.
We also want to make clear that we won’t tolerate vilification or abuse in any form in our game.
